Different Front-end sound
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Freshman User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 31
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Different Front-end sound
I have read what I can find about needle bearing and ball joint sounds and symptoms, but mine is a little different.
My 2002 4x4 F250 makes a sound like small pebbles rattling around in a hub-cap when I turn either direction at about 5 mph while in 2 wheel drive (there are no pebbles...I checked). I don't hear any sound going straight, nor do I hear anything at higher speeds. I've tried rocking the hubs up/down and there is no free-play at all.
So before I start tearing the hubs apart, I just want to be sure there is a problem and that I am addressing the actual cause.
Any help is appreciated.
My 2002 4x4 F250 makes a sound like small pebbles rattling around in a hub-cap when I turn either direction at about 5 mph while in 2 wheel drive (there are no pebbles...I checked). I don't hear any sound going straight, nor do I hear anything at higher speeds. I've tried rocking the hubs up/down and there is no free-play at all.
So before I start tearing the hubs apart, I just want to be sure there is a problem and that I am addressing the actual cause.
Any help is appreciated.
New User
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
i've been trying to figure out bearing/hub assembly stuff for my pick-up also. according to ironmine in another post, he said,
"One test for needle bearing damage is ...... jack up the corner, spin the tire with 4WD hub UN-locked, and you will hear a grinding noise. Now, LOCK in the 4WD hub, spin the tire, and the noise will be gone. The noise goes away because the tire/wheel/hub/axle are now spinning together as a unit .... the needle bearing is not spinning around the axle end."
i went on to ask about the wheel still making the noise when the hub is locked, and he said that it would most likely be the wheel bearing at that point (which can't be replaced byitself--the whole hub has the be replaced).
and because of the cost of replacing that assembly, i'm now trying to figure out what will happen if i don't get the thing fixed right away.
"One test for needle bearing damage is ...... jack up the corner, spin the tire with 4WD hub UN-locked, and you will hear a grinding noise. Now, LOCK in the 4WD hub, spin the tire, and the noise will be gone. The noise goes away because the tire/wheel/hub/axle are now spinning together as a unit .... the needle bearing is not spinning around the axle end."
i went on to ask about the wheel still making the noise when the hub is locked, and he said that it would most likely be the wheel bearing at that point (which can't be replaced byitself--the whole hub has the be replaced).
and because of the cost of replacing that assembly, i'm now trying to figure out what will happen if i don't get the thing fixed right away.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 1,949
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From: Near DC
I've heard that same sound. I narrowed it down and discovered that it would happen after being off road in deep sand. Tiny pebbles and crud got into all the nooks and crannies and would rattle around. After a good wash job, the noise went away. It almost sounded like a hub cap that wasn't on all the way.
Elder User
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 805
Likes: 1
From: South Bend, IN
Gotten any tire work done around the time the sound appeared? I've pulled some weird stuff out of tires. I had a thunk kinda noise in one of my Thunderbird tires at low speeds. Tore the tire off and found a rag inside.
